An article written by my father as it appeared in the Tri-State Defender on the date shown.
“FACING UP TO LIFE” – Part I
“Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God”
Do you ever face up to life? Do you ever stop and wonder what is behind this thing called life anyhow?
I think that somewhere along life’s highway all of us at some point in life stop and wonder what it is all about. For the next 10 weeks this column will concern itself with the general theme: “Facing Up to Life.”
We feel that in the deep-seated thoughts surrounding this passage of scripture commonly known as the beatitudes many of us will find answers to those problems. What is behind these sayings of Jesus anyhow? Do you ever stop to fathom out the real meanings or do you just try to satisfy yourselves with the on-the-surface meanings?
When one faces up to life, he needs certain land marks to guide him safely along the highway. Jesus was not unaware of this. Soon after launching out on His now famous sermon which has become known to us as “The Sermon on the Mount,” you hear him saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God.”
WHAT HE MEANS
What does He mean here? One authority has this to say: “In this passage, Jesus meant happy are those persons who are conscious of their shortcomings, for they have the kingdom.” He makes us mindful that there are many people who walk around in an unreal world, taking false views of themselves, making false appraisals of themselves, wrapping themselves up in an ill-founded glory, and living in an atmosphere that really does not exist. But over against this there is a group that, though poor in spirit, they are rich in knowledge. They make no effort to lull themselves to sleep under an illusion that all goes well and they have nothing to worry about. Day by day their shortcomings are paraded before them and they find themselves striving to make a better person of themselves.
What a great world this would be if each of us were fully conscious of his shortcomings and would do all he could to change himself. But I hear Jesus speaing to a group of people admonishing them to rid their own eyes of the beams that they might be able to see the mot in their own eyes. Even in the days of Jesus there was that group of people who could always see the shortcomings in other people but, as far as they were concerned, there were no shortcomings.
GRAVE CHALLENGE
But Jesus had this to say: “Blessed are those who are conscious of their shortcoming, for theirs is the kingdom.” Facing life is a grave challenge on the part of all of us. Contrary to popular belief, life will be successful not in proportion that we are able to find our shortcomings and the shortcomings of others and magnify them, but in proportion that we are able to find our own shortcomings and start with them to make ourselves – number one – a better person. Our society is filled with people who have but one ambition in life – that is, going around trying to change other people, trying to make them fit our little molds. Life is not that each one of us has been given custody of certain talents. The way we walk, talk, laugh, dress, stand or think is going to affect someone.
If we climb to the top of the ladder, we are going to inspire someone else to climb. If we fail but fail nobly, we are going to inspire someone to pick up the broken pieces, the debris of our lives, and try to make a greater “go” of theirs. Someone has picked us out as their example. If we are conscious of our shortcomings and ask for Divine guidance each day, in the final analysis, our state will be a state of happiness.
WHEN LIFE EBBS
If we do our best each day fully aware of the fact that we have our shortcomings, we will find when this life is slowly ebbing out, we will be able to look in the distance and there see One whom we have known down thru the years, coming to us, saying to each of us, “Come unto me, ye blessed of my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you, from the foundation of the world.”
Yes, in spite of all of our shortcomings, those of us who consistently try to daily make ourselves better will one day end up in the kingdom where our fellowship will be a fellowship of people like us who have, down through the years, been toiling, struggling, fighting, sacrificing, and denying ourselves. Whatever some people may say about this final state, it will be a state of happiness, of blessedness, because a sympathetic Jesus will be there, extending His hand to all of us and rewarding us with the great words: “Well done!”
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 